I gave him 20 pb, and I don't know whether his gear is appropriate, so That might push the current incarnation to CR 5. Fixing him to 15pb and normal loot if he has too much/too little is easy to do though, and won't inhibit functionality at all. Still, it goes like this:
NOBLE (HUNTMASTER CAVALIER 5) CR 4
1200 XP
LN Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +2; Senses; Perception +8
DEFENS AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed (17)
hp 47 (5d10+15)
Fort +6; Ref +4; Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 20ft.
Melee Longsword +8 (1d8+5) and shortsword +8 (1d6+4), or Longsword +10
Ranged Longbow + (1d8+4)
Special Attacks Challenge 2/d.
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 21
Feats Boon Companion, Huntmaster, Two-weapon Fighting, Double Slice, Precise Strike
Skills Diplomacy +9, Handle Animal +13, Sense Motive +8, Perception +8, Survival +8
SQ
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Bestial Challenge (Ex)
Hunting Pack (Ex): Five hounds, ECL2*4+ECL6
Tactician (Ex): 2/d.
Takedown (Ex)
Animal Trainer (Ex)
Swift Tracker (Ex)
Order of the Flame
Glorious Challenge(Ex)
Foolhardy Rush(Ex)
GEAR +1 masterwork longsword, masterwork shortsword, Masterwork longbow +4 str. Masterwork breastplate +1, potion of bull’s strength, cloak of resistance +1
EDL 2 ANIMAL COMPANION (DOG) CR -(There's four of these)
No XP
N Small Animal
Init +3; Senses; Perception +5, Low-light Vision, Scent.
DEFENS AC 16, touch 14, flat-footed (13)
hp 19 (3d8+6)
Fort +5; Ref +6; Will +2
OFFENSE
Speed 40ft.
Melee Bite +5 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks
STATISTICS
Str 13, Dex 17, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD (15)
Feats Weapon Focus(Bite), Power Attack
Skills Perception +5, Survival +5, Stealth +7
SPECIAL ABILITIES Low-light Vision, Scent
EDL 6 ANIMAL COMPANION (DOG) CR -(One of these, boon companion)
No XP
N Medium Animal
Init +4; Senses; Perception +6, Low-light Vision, Scent
DEFENS AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16
hp 45 (6d8+18)
Fort +8; Ref +9; Will +3
OFFENSE
Speed 40ft.
Melee Bite +9 (1d8+6)
Special Attacks
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +4; CMB +8; CMD (22)
Feats Weapon Focus(Bite), Power Attack, Improved Natural Attack(Bite)
Skills Perception +6, Survival +6, Stealth +9
SPECIAL ABILITIES Low-light Vision, Scent
He's created to be a noble in a game where my players are planning to break into his estate soonish. They're level two, and I've got 6-8 players showing up on sessions.
Looking at the monster creation guidelines in the bestiarie he is most likely a bit higher than 4. But and so is the good companion. But the CL system is not Perfect and it depends on your group what t is good and what is bad.
Edit: But if they have a slumber witch his will +2 will make it a easy figth.
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NPCs as seen in codexes and the like typically use a 15 point buy.
Boon companion can't boost your effective druid level past your total level, and a huntmaster gets their full level counted into the abilities of their animal companion(s). So I'm fairly certain Boon Companion won't allow you to stick Boon companion onto one of your animals, and definitely not to ECL 6.
Masterwork equipment through-and-through, along with a potion of bull's strength and cloak of resistance +1 gives use a total wealth much closer to that of NPC (Heroic) on the table.
Lastly, even without the Boon Companion being possibly misused, this character has far greater action economy than most characters would.
I'd say this character is easily CR 5 once you correct the Boon Companion issue. Before that this is likely a CR 6, because of boosting an animal companions beyond the effective druid level of the owner.
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A swift look tells me it should probably be within the limits of CR 4 NPC, but there is several things to note:
- As others stated, several additional companions might cause CR disbalance in it's own way. I suggest making 1 tough dog instead to balance the action economy more in favor of PCs.
- When you create NPCs, you want them as simple as possible. Having 1 special ability like challenge is great. Having more causes minor confusion to you, as a GM. It tends to be hard to track all those opportunities and abilities overall.
Adam
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The Hounds aren't properly arranged. As a 5th level Cavalier with Boon Companion, he has 9 effective Druid levels, total, to divide among them. You've got 14 (as well as one at 6th, which isn't legal). I'd fix that.
You've got around 6k in equipment, significantly more than a level 5 NPC is allowed by default, and are using higher point-buy to boot. That combined likely makes him CR 5, though you could add up to another 4k or so of equipment and remain about CR 5.
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NPC's should use the standard array (equivalent to 15 pt buy without as much flexibility) and NPC wealth expenditure rules (link). If they use the heroic array (equivalent to 20 point buy without as much flexibility) it would be alter the challenge, and if they exceed NPC wealth for their level and type (heroic or base) it will also alter the challenge.
D20PFSRD Character Creation Outline
Above is a link to the rules for creating an NPC. If you want something balanced according to the base rules for the game then I suggest following the guidelines. There are special dispensations for fast/slow xp progresson and high/low fantasy games (20 pt buy is high fantasy and 10 pt buy is low fantasy). If you want to just eyeball it and balance according to your own party, then we need to know the makeup and abilities of your party to be able to provide useful feedback.
This encounter will possibly kill a few level 2 PC's unless they are tactical min/maxers or start the combat holding a doorway.
You have more hitpoints in total than the party average and 6 actions vs. their 6-8. The little dogs do relevant damage on Power Attack. You have two tough damage dealers.
Average party HP should be about 18-20. Only THW melees can drop a little dog in 2 rounds. The AoE's are restricted to things like grease and entangle, so no damage there.
I would award xp for this encounter based on all of the creatures counting, as opposed to just the NPC. Animal companions are not summons and should count as CR; they are permanent and fight to the death.
If I were to build this encounter with normal monsters...
The little dogs are slightly better (Power attack) than Giant Ant Workers = CR1 x 4 (1600xp)
The big dog is similar to a black bear = CR 3 (800xp)
The NPC is a boosted CR 4, really a CR 5. (1600xp)
Total: 4200xp = between a CR 7 and an 8. Because you have so many players it will feel like a CR 6 most likely. This should kill PC's unless they can tactics game it.
There is minimal combat difference between 1 ftr, 4 ants and a black bear and your Cavalier and his AC's, so their shouldn't be an xp difference if the party survives.
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It depends on your party. My party took out a CR 16/MR6 White dragon in 3 rounds....
They were level 9 mythic tier 4....
It would have been ONE round if I hadn't given the dragon an extra 900 or so HP...
Also, this is why I love herolab, it tells me the CR of encounters my players are facing. So far they've not run into anything they didn't subsequently slaughter in the encounters face...
The moral of the story is. If you have a two-weapon fighter AND a bard in your party... things start to get crazy.
I always thought that NPC's were built on the array 13,12,11,10,9,8 unless otherwise specified. NPC wealth guidelines that prevent them from spending their money on anything good also help to tone down their challenge.
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I always thought that NPC's were built on the array 13,12,11,10,9,8 unless otherwise specified. NPC wealth guidelines that prevent them from spending their money on anything good also help to tone down their challenge.
That's NPC Class NPCs, like Experts or Warriors.
PC Class ones get 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8, which comes out to 15 point-buy. still less than this character has, though.
I always thought that NPC's were built on the array 13,12,11,10,9,8 unless otherwise specified. NPC wealth guidelines that prevent them from spending their money on anything good also help to tone down their challenge.That's NPC Class NPCs, like Experts or Warriors.
PC Class ones get 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8, which comes out to 15 point-buy. still less than this character has, though.
Good to know. I haven't really done much encounter design as I like being a player a lot and I usually either run published material or mostly monsters when I do design encounters.
Mystic,
There a big difference between L9/M4 power characters and level 2 generic characters. Also, the dragon lost the fight on action economy, whereas the above example has nearly equal economy, assuming that there aren't Summoners.
Pathfinder is wicked hard for character survival at low level. By mid levels dying is more of an afterthought.
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Elite Array (15) +1 CR.
This is incorrect. The Elite Array is an assumed part of PC Class NPCs (and much of why their CR is Level -1 instead of the Level -2 of NPC Class NPCs)...so a Cavalier 5 with none of the rest of the idssues with this build is, in fact, CR 4.
This character has other issues making them higher CR, as noted, but perhaps not as much as you're implying.